


bonus track

by Evening_Winds



Series: dragon song verse [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Gen, Here be spoilers, M/M, read the main fic first please and thank you, see summary for chapter-specific tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24581503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evening_Winds/pseuds/Evening_Winds
Summary: a collection ofdragon songside stories
Relationships: Dande | Leon & Kibana | Raihan, Dande | Leon & Nezu | Piers, Dande | Leon & Sonia, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, Kibana | Raihan & Nezu | Piers, mentioned Nessa/Sonia - Relationship
Series: dragon song verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776763
Comments: 12
Kudos: 69





	1. interlude

**Author's Note:**

> i have so many ideas that won’t fit in the main story, so… side story time!
> 
> the title of this fic is also a reference to Dragon Song by Iiris (it was the bonus track of the album it was released on, haha get it)
> 
> * * * 
> 
> read the following after ch 11 of _dragon song_ :
> 
>  **chapter 1:** _interlude_ , 2.8k – leon goes to visit sonia for the summer. awkward conversations ensue. takes place during ch 7.  
> (Dance | Leon, Sonia *** Dande | Leon & Sonia, Dande | Leon & Kibana | Raihan, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, mentioned Nessa/Sonia *** Male-Female Friendship, Light Angst, is it pining? maybe possibly perhaps (yes it is. it totally is))
> 
> read the following after ch 17 of _dragon song_ :
> 
>  **chapter 2:** _between the lines (extended epilogue)_ , 4.3k – missing scenes from the epilogue. takes place pretty much right after ch 16.  
> (Dande | Leon, Kibana | Raihan, Original Female Character(s) *** Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan *** Established Relationship, Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Trauma, just a little bit o’ ptsd and abandonment issues oh fun)
> 
>  **chapter 3:** _no wrong moves_ , 2.2k – everyone’s got their own demons to deal with. takes place a month or two after _between the lines_ but before the present-day scenes of the epilogue.  
> (chapter-specific tags: Dande | Leon, Kibana | Raihan *** Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan *** Established Relationship, Fluff, Angst, Trauma, Panic Attacks, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, this fic is a fluff and angst sandwich)
> 
>  **chapter 4:** _it’s a small world_ , 2.7k – three men walk into a tavern… takes place a few days before the present-day scenes of the epilogue.  
> (chapter-specific tags: Nezu | Piers, Dande | Leon, Kibana | Raihan *** Nezu | Piers & Dande | Leon, Nezu | Piers & Kibana | Raihan, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan *** there is pretty much no plot here, i just. wanted to write more piers, also tiny bits of additional worldbuilding i guess, plus raihan and leon being grossly in love while i’m at it.......)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Leon turned to face Sonia and quirked an eyebrow at her. “I don’t understand your logic.”_
> 
> _“Oh, of course you don’t,” she sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. “You have to tell me everything because you’re obviously crushing on him.”_  
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> aka leon had been looking forward to spending the summer at sonia’s: equal amounts of work and fun with his oldest friend. sonia pestering him with awkward conversations was _not_ what he had had in mind.
> 
> aka sonia tries her best but leon is just. being leon
> 
> [takes place during chapter 7]
> 
> (chapter-specific tags: Dance | Leon, Sonia *** Dande | Leon & Sonia, Dande | Leon & Kibana | Raihan, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, mentioned Nessa/Sonia *** Male-Female Friendship, Light Angst, is it pining? maybe possibly perhaps (yes it is. it totally is))

“Thanks for the ride,” Leon said, shouldered his backpack and grabbed his lute by its neck before hopping off the cart. Here at last. He never quite got used to just how long it took to reach the big city despite making the journey dozens of times before. It made him understand Raihan’s aversion to sitting still a bit better.

The central square was bustling with people. At least Leon was pretty sure this was the central square. He took a steadying breath and tried to remember which direction he was supposed to go.

“Lee! Over here!”

Leon turned towards the voice – it was, of course, Sonia, waiting for him in front of the candlemaker’s shop as promised. She ran to him and hugged him in greeting. “Welcome back.”

“It’s good to see you again,” Leon replied and returned the embrace. It was a relief that she had noticed him right away; it would have taken Leon ages to locate the correct shop on his own.

“I’ve been looking forward to this,” Sonia said and took Leon’s arm to lead him. “More than usual. There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk about with you in person.”

“What is it?” Leon asked and fell into step with his friend.

Sonia seemed really pleased with herself. “Someone has a crush,” she singsonged and patted Leon’s arm with her free hand.

“Oh! Congrats!” Leon exclaimed. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

Sonia froze for a second and blushed a bit. “W-what? No!” she spluttered and resumed walking. “I was talking about _you_!”

The joy Leon felt for his friend quickly turned to total confusion. “What makes you think that?”

“Your latest letter,” Sonia stated matter-of-factly after taking a moment to compose herself. “I didn’t write you back since I knew you were coming here soon.” She grinned at him mischievously. “But we’ll get to that once we’re home.”

* * *

Leon barely had time to greet Gran before Sonia practically manhandled him upstairs and jumped on her bed with way too much energy. “So!” she began, lay down on her stomach and propped her chin on her hands. “Tell me about Raihan.”

“Why do you want to know more about him?” Leon asked, puzzled. He set his backpack down and started unpacking his belongings, placing them in the empty clothes chest waiting for him in the corner.

“As your oldest friend, it’s my right to know all about him.”

Leon turned to face Sonia and quirked an eyebrow at her. “I don’t understand your logic.”

“Oh, of course you don’t,” she sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. “You have to tell me everything because you’re obviously crushing on him.”

“Wha- -” Leon dropped the tunic he was holding. “I am not!”

Sonia shot him a sharp look. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying!” Leon insisted. “He’s my friend and nothing else.”

Sonia pinched her mouth into a tight line and tried to stare him down. Leon stubbornly glared right back at her.

“Fine. If you say so,” she eventually huffed once it became apparent that Leon wasn’t going to give in. “Maybe you could elaborate on some things in your letter, instead.” Sonia reached out to her desk to pick up the missive in question and cleared her throat. “It says, ‘I think most of Raihan’s scales are fully developed now, and they’re so pretty… They’re dark violet, so dark that they’re nearly black, and sometimes when they catch the light just right, you can see this reddish luster in them…’ I don’t remember coming across that color scheme before. Sounds nice.” She paused for a moment and twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “Is _he_ pretty as well?”

“I… I guess so… Or maybe handsome would be the better word…” It was only when Leon saw Sonia’s innocuous expression transform into a wide, toothy grin that he registered the words that had left his mouth. “Shut _up_!” he groaned.

“I didn’t say anything,” Sonia protested, but her grin didn’t falter.

Leon hid the flush coloring his cheeks by turning his back to Sonia and resuming his unpacking. “You were thinking about it,” he mumbled.

“Thinking about what?” Sonia asked, so cheerily it was infuriating.

Leon didn’t grace her with a reply.

“Do you want me to give you further evidence? There’s a lot in this letter of yours,” she continued. After a short pause, she added, “And probably in your previous ones, too, now that I think about it.”

“Please don’t.”

Sonia dropped the subject, but Leon knew her. She wasn’t done yet.

* * *

Leon sat down to take a drink from his waterskin. The day was overcast and chilly, but he was so sweaty that his shirt clung to his back. Devoting several hours a day to chopping firewood hadn’t exactly been what he had signed up for when he had agreed to spend the summer here, but he didn’t mind it. In fact, he enjoyed physical work in general. His father had even urged him to take up a job at the blacksmith’s – “You could put that magic of yours to use there, too,” was what he had said – and Leon had been considering it. Obviously, Gran’s request had made him put that plan on the backburner, but maybe he would give it a go once he got back home. Either way, it would be only temporary; becoming a minstrel was his number one priority, after all.

From there, his thoughts circled to Raihan who should have begun his tailoring apprenticeship by now. He had seemed so excited about it, eager to start mastering the craft and possibly making a career out of it. The memory brought a smile to Leon’s face. He wondered how Raihan was doing. Despite having no formal training, Raihan was quite skilled already, so Leon surmised that he was making quick and steady progress. Maybe he should write him a letter and ask. The idea of writing to Raihan felt a bit weird, though. He had never had any reason to since they had never been away from each other for this long before.

And there were still so many more weeks of separation ahead…

“Lee?”

Sonia’s voice drew Leon back to the present. “Yeah?” he asked and looked over at her.

“You’ve just been sitting there in silence for a while,” Sonia noted and placed a new log on the chopping stump in front of her. “Thinking about your boyfriend?”

Leon scowled at her. “How many times do I have to tell you that Raihan is not my boyfriend?”

“A-ha!” Sonia exclaimed triumphantly. “So you _were_ thinking about him, weren’t you?”

She knew him too well, it seemed, despite having an astoundingly stupid fixation with his alleged love life. “I can’t believe I’m stuck here with you all summer,” Leon muttered and brought the waterskin back to his lips.

“Yeah, I bet you’d rather be back home with your dear, beloved, one and only Rairai.”

Leon almost choked on a mouthful of water. “ _Sonia!_ ”

“What? It’s a cute nickname.” She grunted as she split the log neatly in half with a swing of her axe. “Can’t I call him that, too?”

As if the ‘Rairai’ part had been the reason for his reaction! Still, Leon found himself blurting out, “Absolutely not.”

Why was he being so protective of a nickname of all things?

If Sonia’s smug expression was anything to go by, she had been quick to reach her own conclusions about the matter. “He seems like a nice person, though,” she said jovially. “You should ask him to come visit with you sometime.”

“So that you can tease me in front of him, too?” Leon snapped, flustered. “Forget about it.”

“I won’t. I promise,” Sonia assured and set down her axe. She looked around at their surroundings and the pieces of firewood strewn about. “Let’s pile these up in the shed and then we’ll call it a day, okay?”

* * *

One evening after supper, Leon and Sonia were sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by piles upon piles of old scrolls, heavy tomes and research notes. They were about halfway through the day’s copying quota when Sonia suddenly said, “I haven’t been completely honest with you, Lee.”

It took Leon a few seconds to realize that he had been spoken to. The outside world ceased to exist to him whenever he sank into that peculiar state of mind where the words flowed through him and onto the page without him even realizing. He shook his head a bit and put down his pen. “What’s this about?”

Sonia kept writing. As opposed to Leon, she had gotten so used to transcribing that she could do it even while she talked. “I… I have a crush, too. I think.”

Ah. That explains her odd reaction on the day he got here. “Drop the ‘too’ and I’ll listen,” Leon replied, deadpan, and picked his pen back up.

“Ugh, fine,” Sonia grumbled. “Unlike you, I admit that I have a crush. There. Happy now?”

Leon had just found the part of the manuscript where he had left off, but he paused his work again to glare at Sonia. “That’s _not_ what I - -” He sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t feel like arguing right now, so he yielded. “Okay, fine. Who is it?”

Sonia stopped as well and wiped the nib of her pen on a piece of cloth. “You don’t know her,” she said as she rose from the table. “But I can show you the portrait I drew.” Before long, she came back with one of her sketchbooks. She opened it on the correct page and handed it to Leon. “This is Nessa.”

Leon accepted the offered book and was rendered speechless for a moment. “This is amazing!” he marveled. “I mean, you’ve always been great at drawing, but you’ve improved so much!”

“Thanks. I’ve practiced a lot since your last visit,” Sonia said, obviously pleased with the compliment. “Feel free to look through the other pages as well.”

Leon let his gaze linger on Nessa’s portrait for a while longer. “So this is her, huh?” he asked before turning the page. “How’d you meet?”

And so Sonia recounted what had happened on the latest field research trip she had gone on. She smiled widely while she babbled about Nessa and how pretty and funny and smart she was and all the fun they had had together during her trip and the magic she had showed her and how badly she wanted to see her again and the long letters the two of them had been exchanging for the past few months. Leon listened, asked questions and was so, so happy for her.

Eventually, Sonia ran out of words and simply watched Leon leaf through her sketches. “I know!” she said after a moment of silence. “When you bring Raihan over, I’ll draw you a picture of him.”

“I see him almost every day unless I’m visiting you,” Leon pointed out. “So even though I adore your art, there’s no need to do that.” When Sonia didn’t respond, he turned to her and squinted upon seeing her expression. “Why are you smiling like that?”

Sonia’s grin got even wider. “You just indirectly agreed to bring him over, didn’t you?”

…Huh.

Perhaps he had.

In all honesty, he quite liked the idea.

* * *

“Do you want to kiss him?”

Leon didn’t even try to pretend he didn’t know who Sonia meant. At least she had had enough decency to not bring the subject up while her grandmother was around.

He and Sonia were sitting on the steps leading the backyard, peeling swedes and carrots for dinner. They had only just started their task, so Leon couldn’t easily escape the conversation. His diligent nature, sense of conscientiousness and a mound of root vegetables were holding him hostage. With a sigh, he responded, “I don’t know.”

“Why not? It’s a very simple question!”

“I just don’t, okay?” Leon peeled the carrot he was holding with such fervor that he almost cut himself. “And how should I know? I mean, it’s not like I know what it’s like. I… I’ve never kissed anyone before.” Kissing was, after all, something that people who were in love with each other did, and being in love… Well, it was a subject Leon hadn’t really thought about all that much. Maybe he should, at some point. Not right now, though.

“You’re not gonna practice on me, that’s for sure,” Sonia said gleefully and lightly elbowed him in the ribs.

“I have absolutely no desire to kiss you, Sonia,” Leon retorted with a scowl.

“I know, and the feeling’s mutual,” she grinned. “But how come you’re so sure about that, but not when it comes to Raihan? In my opinion, that’s very telling.”

Leon scoffed.

“Hey, I’m only trying to be a good friend and help you figure stuff out,” Sonia reproved him in a gentle tone, but Leon stayed silent. For a while, the only audible sounds were the quiet scraping of their knives and the chirping of a lone bird nesting under the eaves. Eventually, she continued, “So. What _do_ you want to do with him?”

What a stupid question. “Just… Talk about stuff. Spend time together. You know, like _friends_ do,” Leon said emphatically. “It doesn’t really matter what we do. I just enjoy being with him.”

“And…?” Sonia urged, unsatisfied with his answer.

Another sigh escaped Leon’s mouth. Of course she knew that he had omitted something. “I… I like holding hands with him, I guess,” he admitted. “We do it a lot.” He wasn’t sure why he felt compelled to mention _that_ , too, but he couldn’t take it back anymore.

“Oh, how scandalous!” Sonia cackled. “So very unbecoming of you.”

Leon threw a handful of soggy vegetable peels at her.

If she saw a deep blush on his cheeks while he did it, surely it was nothing but a figment of her imagination.

* * *

A few days later, Leon had a dream where he kissed Raihan.

In the dream, they were in Leon’s room back home, sitting side by side on his bed, and Raihan was holding his hand. It was nighttime; the moon shone in through the window, and its pearlescent, otherworldly light glimmered beautifully in Raihan’s eyes and on the rose-tinted scaling of his cheeks. He turned to face Leon and smiled softly at him, one canine poking out like it sometimes did.

And as Leon slowly leaned in closer, there was a song echoing in his ears, a melody he knew well, plucked from his very own heartstrings.

It was only the lightest brush of lips, brief and lovely. Afterwards, dream-Raihan said something, Leon didn’t know what, but it made perfect sense in dream logic and was so utterly inane that it made dream-Leon laugh hard enough to wake him up in the real world.

Suddenly feeling wide awake, he stared at the dark ceiling of Sonia’s room, clutching his blanket to his chest, his mind and heart racing. It had all seemed so real.

It was confusing.

 _Extremely_ confusing.

…But it was a nice dream.

Still, for some reason, Leon quietly cried himself back to sleep.

* * *

Sonia revealed the last tile in her hand with dramatic flourish. “And… five of leaves. That makes it seven pairs, all from one suit.” She flashed Leon a smile. “Another win for me.”

Leon pushed the tiles in his pitifully low-scoring hand towards the center of the table. Sonia had challenged him to the game after the day’s work was done and proceeded to win three rounds in a row. It was all about skill and strategy, and usually Leon made a worthy opponent to her, but tonight he was feeling distracted.

It was raining hard. The summer thus far had been unusually cold, cloudy and rainy. At least there was no shortage of things to do indoors, Leon mused. He and Sonia had been faring well with their transcription work, but there was still much left to do. Not to mention that Gran had gone to visit a friend of hers and would probably return with yet another armload of frail scrolls for them to make copies of.

He listened to the clattering of the tiles Sonia was shuffling and stared at his ink-stained fingers. Some of the spots didn’t wash off anymore; he would have to wait for them to wear off on their own.

How badly stained would his hands be by the time he went back home, weeks from now?

“I miss him, Sonia,” Leon heard himself say out of the blue.

Sonia didn’t even ask who he was talking about. She didn’t have to. “I know, Lee.” The clattering stopped as she rose from her chair to give Leon a hug. “I know. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say.”

He tried to pretend that the arms around him were Raihan’s. But it was difficult. He didn’t know what Raihan’s hugs felt like.

It made Leon miss him even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (idk if anyone noticed, but in _dragon song_ leon and raihan held hands in literally every chapter up till ch 10. ain’t that nice)


	2. between the lines (extended epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Leon gave a solemn nod in response. “Are… Are_ we _all right?” he asked with an edge of worry in his voice._
> 
> _This time Raihan didn’t have to think about the answer. “Yeah. We will be.”_
> 
> * * *  
> 
> 
> aka they don’t really know how to act around each other yet, but they’ll get there. eventually.
> 
> aka missing scenes from the epilogue
> 
> [takes place pretty much right after ch 16]
> 
> (chapter-specific tags: Dande | Leon, Kibana | Raihan, Original Female Character(s) *** Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan *** Established Relationship, Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Trauma, just a little bit o’ ptsd and abandonment issues oh fun)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> from very early on, i had an extremely clear vision of how i wanted the epilogue to play out… like, i had half of it written long before i even begun posting _dragon song_ here. and i really like the epilogue the way it is!! it may even be my favorite chapter!!
> 
> but, of course, my brain wouldn’t shut up about the achingly bittersweet fluff going on behind the scenes right after their proper reunion so i had to write some extra stuff anyway

Raihan didn’t remember when he had last seen a bed, let alone slept in one.

But he remembered the way his mattress gave in a little under his weight, remembered the scent of the herbs his mother used when doing laundry, and even though he couldn’t comfortably lay on his back to stare at the familiar ceiling of his room, he remembered the knots and grooves in the wood boards that were vaguely shaped like animals.

It was nice to remember those things again.

He glanced up at Leon who had been silently watching him settle down. “You coming?” he asked drowsily and lifted the edge of the blanket. The bed was way too small for two adults – it was cramped for just Raihan alone, considering how much taller he had grown since the last time he had used it – but sharing it was, at least to his mind, the most rational solution in the current situation.

Leon shifted his weight from one foot to the other and cast his eyes down. “Yeah, but… It’s just… I…” His words tapered off.

“You were up all night, too,” Raihan pointed out. When Leon gave no reply, he ventured, “Or would you rather go get the extra bedding and - -”

The words died on his lips when he noticed that Leon’s eyes were misty with tears.

“…Lee?”

Leon stood still and silent for a moment longer before he clambered into bed so hastily that Raihan barely had time to move out of the way to give him enough room to lay down. However, he avoided Raihan’s gaze and kept an unnecessary large distance between them.

“What’s wrong?” Raihan asked gently and pulled the blanket over them both.

Still no response.

“Lee? Are you all right?”

“I… I don’t know,” Leon replied quietly. Slowly he shifted his gaze up and met Raihan’s eyes. “Are you?”

Raihan had to think for a moment. It still felt like he was feeling too many things at once, almost painfully aware of every stimulus to his senses and thoughts. “I don’t know, either,” he admitted.

Leon gave a solemn nod in response. “Are… Are _we_ all right?” he asked with an edge of worry in his voice.

This time Raihan didn’t have to think about the answer. “Yeah. We will be.”

A small smile appeared on Leon’s face. “Yeah.” After a moment of silence, he asked in a nervous whisper, “Can I hold you?”

The sudden question was almost enough to render Raihan speechless. “Of course.”

Gingerly, Leon slipped his arms around Raihan and pressed his forehead against his chest. Raihan reciprocated by carefully placing one hand on the small of Leon’s back and petting his hair with the other. Silky strands quickly got stuck to his claws, but he didn’t let it bother him too much.

The close contact, the feeling of Leon pressed against him and enveloping him in his warmth, was simultaneously exhilarating and soothing; the two extremes evened each other out. He forced himself to stay awake just to enjoy the moment for a while longer.

Leon inhaled deeply and let the air out in a shuddering exhale. “Rairai…”

“Mm?”

“I… I’m sorry I’m so confused right now,” Leon mumbled into Raihan’s shirtfront. “It’s like my head and heart are bursting at their seams. There are so many things I want to say but I have no clue where to begin.”

“Take your time,” Raihan whispered.

Leon was quiet for so long that Raihan thought he had fallen asleep. When he spoke up, his voice was thick and strained. “It’s been so long, and I… I’m still shaken. I can’t believe this is real. I’m so scared that this all just a dream.” He paused for a moment and sniffled. “I guess I’m just so happy but also terrified that I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Same here. But we’ll figure everything out.” Raihan wrapped his arms tightly around Leon and pulled him even closer. “I promise.”

Gradually, he felt Leon’s tense body relax against him. It didn’t take long for them both to be fast asleep.

* * *

He jerked awake violently, gasping for breath and disoriented. The tendrils of an all-too-familiar dream swirled on the edges of his vision, red on black and black on red. It was gone, gone, gone, he knew it was, he had made sure of it, the sculpture had been intact again when he had left, so why did it still - -

“Rairai?”

Startled, Raihan turned toward the voice. Leon was sitting on the edge of his bed with a mug in his hands. “Your mother made tea. Blackcurrant,” Leon said and offered the mug to him. “Do you want some?”

Raihan rubbed his face. He was home. He was safe. It was over.

His stomach was churning but he carefully accepted the mug and brought it to his lips. The tangy, fruity flavor of the beverage brought back a whole slew of memories: his mother’s capable hands showing him how to chop the leaves for tea, sharing half a loaf of blackcurrant bread with Sebastian, Camilla and Aria after finishing their chores in record time, eating freshly picked berries with Leon while leaning on the garden fence in the summer sun…

He managed to swallow two mouthfuls of tea before it got too much and he handed the mug back to Leon.

“How are you feeling?” Leon asked after taking a few sips himself.

Raihan opened his mouth only to close it again. He didn’t know. He truly did not know. Even though the dream had already faded away, his head still buzzed and spun. He wasn’t used to being in control, let alone having his feelings back just yet. Everything blended into one another; he couldn’t tell where one ended and another began.

And a very distinct part of humanity was not knowing things, wasn’t it? Knowing everything, seeing into the past and the future, being eternity itself… For a moment, he had known what it was like, back when Eternatus had breached his walls for the first time and the abyss had replaced his heart, but he had resisted. And, just a few short hours ago, the dragon had tried to thrust the full knowledge upon him again, but he had refused.

Even the memory of it was too much to comprehend, the lingering feeling it had left behind too immense for a human heart; if he were to dwell on it now, he would drown and drown and drown, and he wasn’t sure if he could ever surface again.

Better let it fade away. He knew he wouldn’t miss it one bit.

Leon was sitting very still and watching him with growing alarm in his gentle eyes. That’s when Raihan realized that he had been quiet for too long. He forced himself to concentrate, to put at least something into words. “Eight years of nothing,” he began hesitantly, “and now it’s all coming back to me, all at once and in sudden bursts simultaneously. It feels…” He picked at a loose thread on the blanket, considered his words, but didn’t find any adequate ones. “It’s hard to explain. I have to get used to being me again.”

“Take your time,” Leon whispered.

Raihan nodded and glanced out the window. “I… I want to go to the garden,” he heard himself say.

* * *

Leon led him by the hand to the backyard and sat down next to him between the vegetable patches under the eaves.

And they talked about everything and nothing, reminisced about all the times they had climbed on the roof and got splinters on their palms in the process, about the one abnormal winter when it had snowed so much that they couldn’t see out of the window of Raihan’s room, about the summer when they were sixteen and Sebastian had fallen from one of the apple trees and the seeds Sonia had given Raihan produced sunflowers that grew taller than Leon, and…

Raihan rested his head on Leon’s shoulder and simply listened to his voice for a while, how it rose and fell and flowed.

He wanted to make a lot of new memories like this. It was blissful. The spring sunlight was warm on his skin and the world was beautiful and everything was all right.

“I had missed this. Just being with you, talking,” Leon said softly. “And even if a silence falls, it isn’t uncomfortable.”

Raihan made a small sound of agreement. “That’s how it always was between us, back then.”

“I think it can be like that now, too,” Leon added.

Raihan gave a nod at that. He hoped so as well.

They talked for a while longer and then, during a lull in the conversation, Leon said, “I… I think I should go home. Visit my family. I’ve been away for a long while.” He sighed overdramatically. “Grandma’s going to give me a piece of her mind when she finds out that I was back but didn’t go visit them right away.”

“She’ll understand when you tell her the reason why.”

“You’re right,” Leon smiled and shrugged the shoulder Raihan was leaning on. “Do you want to come? Everyone would be thrilled to see you.”

Raihan closed his eyes for a moment. “It would be nice, but… I think I’ll stay here,” he replied. “I don’t think being around that many people would be good for me right now. Too overwhelming.”

“I understand,” Leon said a bit sadly and patted Raihan’s knee. “You should rest some more. Eat something. Take a bath.”

Raihan had to admit that a bath would do him a world of good right now. He had seen a trail of smoke rising from the chimney of the communal bathhouse on their way to the garden. In the warmth of the steam room his nails would soften, making them easier to clip short again. And then he could wear shoes again. He wondered if his mother had an extra pair of boots in his size stashed somewhere.

As they had stepped outside, he had also seen the peak of the mountain and quickly torn his gaze away. The temple wasn’t visible from the village, but he knew it was there. Waiting. Beckoning - -

Raihan pushed the intrusive thoughts away again. The dragon was sealed away for good. He knew it was. It had no real power over him anymore.

Nuzzling up against Leon for comfort, he suggested, “Or I could wait till you get back and then we could go to the bathhouse together.”

Leon was quiet for a few moments and gave his cheeks a quick pat. “Okay. Yeah. Sounds good. It’s been a while since I’ve had a good hot steam bath.” He fell silent for a long while before continuing, “Just… Promise me that you’ll be here when I get back.”

Raihan stopped leaning on Leon to look him in the eyes. “Lee, I’m all right now. There’s no need to - -”

There was a tinge of desperation in Leon’s voice when he cut Raihan off. “Promise me. Please.”

In a flash, Raihan realized that not only had Leon noticed that he wasn’t completely all right, but he also had every reason to be worried. His fears had deep roots.

“I promise,” Raihan said and took Leon’s hand in his. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good,” Leon said and let out a shaky breath. Still, he made no move to actually leave; he simply looked at Raihan with his head slightly tilted. After a few tense moments, he leaned closer and pressed a quick and nervous kiss on Raihan’s cheek, blushing slightly as he drew back.

And judging by the tiny, self-satisfied smirk that spread on Leon’s lips, Raihan could tell that the redness that flushed the scaling on his own face was anything but slight.

“That reminds me,” Raihan ventured once he had regained his composure, “That kiss earlier, up there… It was almost as sloppy as our first one was.” He cracked a weak grin of his own. “It’s almost as if you haven’t been practicing.”

Just like Raihan had expected, his teasing comment made Leon as flustered as the kiss had made him. “Wha- - _Rairai!_ That’s so mean!” he exclaimed and shoved Raihan’s shoulder with his free hand, trying to feign offence, but his bright laughter gave it away. “You’re one to talk! You had no idea what you were doing, either!”

Raihan laughed, too – or, half-laughed and half-coughed. “Sorry, sorry. You’re right.” Suddenly feeling bold, he leaned in close to Leon and lowered his voice to a whisper. “But you know me. I’m always ready to learn new things. And I think we both have the potential to master that skill. So…”

This time, Leon blushed furiously and turned his gaze away, smiling shyly. “I’ll… keep that in mind,” he said under his breath and brushed a stray lock of hair behind his ear.

Raihan couldn’t help feeling a tiny sting of disappointment at the response. Then again, he wasn’t sure if his newly restored heart could take it if Leon were to kiss him again right this very moment. Not to mention that all this was probably a lot for Leon to handle as well. The past eight years had been longer for Leon than they had been for him.

It would probably be better to take things slow for now, for both of their sakes.

He gave Leon’s hand a squeeze. Leon returned it.

“Honestly, I… I tried a few times. With other people,” Leon admitted a moment of silence later. “But… I don’t think I learnt much. It didn’t feel right.” He turned to face Raihan again with a subtle sparkle in his eyes. “Because they weren’t you.”

Raihan would have smiled if his muscles had cooperated. “Well, well, aren’t you loyal,” he teased.

Leon rolled his eyes but the smile he wore was brimming with affection.

An involuntary sigh escaped Raihan’s mouth as he leaned the back of his head against the wall. Yet another messy but necessary tangle of emotions for him to unravel and sort out. Jealousy. Guilt for Leon missing him for years and not moving on. Shame for being – in some twisted way – pleased that Leon hadn’t gotten over him.

More than anything, he wanted to be worth the wait. Leon deserved it.

Raihan yawned and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. He had just woken up, but he was still feeling exceptionally drowsy. “We have so much to talk about,” he mumbled and felt a shiver pass over him. He was dreading the conversation, or, more precisely, reliving everything. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for it quite yet. “Eight years of catching up to do,” he added, trying to sound nonchalant but falling a bit short.

“Yeah. But later. When you feel ready.” Leon patted the back of Raihan’s hand before releasing it and rising to his feet, a bit reluctantly. “Rest now, darling. I won’t be long.”

 _Darling_. Such a lovely word. Even more so because it fell from Leon’s lips.

“I’ll be right here,” Raihan promised, his eyes already fluttering shut again. “Tell them I said hi.”

“I will.”

* * *

Raihan was drawn back to wakefulness by the sound of approaching footsteps. He opened his eyes to find his mother kneeling beside him. Without a word, she handed him a plate with a few slices of warm bread and a mug of freshly brewed tea.

He stared at the food in his hands and almost felt like crying.

His mother took the blanket she had under her arm and draped it over his legs. “You looked cold,” she told Raihan as she dusted off her skirts and straightened up.

Maybe she was right. But, in truth, even though he was sitting in partial shade, he hadn’t felt this warm in an eternity.

His mother had remained standing beside him, her back against the wall. She didn’t look at him when she asked, “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Raihan hesitated and took a bite of the bread to have more time to think.

There had been a time when he would have gotten angry, snapped at her with harsh words, questioned why he had to tell her when she never told him anything. But that had been a long time ago, and even then he had understood that it was, ultimately, a counterproductive attitude to have with her.

“It was the dragon,” he began haltingly. “When I… didn’t come back… That’s when it finally awakened and took me over. I wasn’t myself anymore. And…” Even though he wasn’t going into much detail, he still fumbled over his words. The memories – and especially the _lack_ of memories, all the empty spaces in between the moments when he had been aware of himself – were too disturbing. But he pushed on. “Last night, it tried to… act through me. I think it wanted to do what it thought was best for dragonkind. But I sealed it away before it…” The words got stuck in his throat and he trailed off.

His mother glanced over at him. “Before it what?” she asked when he didn’t continue.

“…Before it was able to destroy humankind,” Raihan replied after finding his voice again.

Looking straight ahead again, his mother pinched her lips and didn’t say anything else on the matter.

Raihan clinked his claws against the mug and sipped the tea. It was blackcurrant again. “Am I a bad person?” he asked quietly. “For defying it and choosing humanity? For making a selfish choice?”

“If being selfish is enough to make one a bad person, there are no good people in this world,” his mother replied gently. “Also, didn’t I once tell you that you are a good person, with a good heart?”

Raihan nibbled on his bread in silence for a while, mulling over his mother’s words. He didn’t feel like a particularly good person right then. Even though it hadn’t been of his own volition, Leon wasn’t the only one he had left behind without a word. Eight years was nothing to eternity-as-dragon, but it was a long time for a human – and Raihan was beginning to feel the weight of all those half-lived and half-recalled years.

So, even though he dreaded his mother’s answer, he asked, “How have you been?”

She didn’t reply, but her silence spoke volumes. When she turned to momentarily look at her only child again, the sadness in her eyes seemed deeper than before. A sudden, sharp pain slashed at Raihan’s heart.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

His mother’s expression softened a bit. “You already apologized. What is most important is that you’re safe and sound now. Not knowing what had happened to you was the hardest part.” She turned toward the garden and seemed to be studying the fruit trees, lost in thought. “I had never expected you to stay here forever. You were always filled with a certain kind of wanderlust.”

Raihan wanted to apologize again but held his tongue.

“I’m going to make supper,” his mother announced after a time. “Will you come inside?”

Raihan shook his head. “I’ll wait for Lee to get back first.”

His mother nodded in understanding. She lingered, taking some time to fix her hair up and pin it in place. “He came to visit me, your Leon,” she said suddenly.

“He did?” Raihan really had no reason to be as surprised as he was. It was Leon they were talking about, after all.

“He came often,” she said with the tiniest of smiles quirking her lips. “And after he began journeying, he came every year during harvest season and whenever he happened to be visiting his family.”

Learning that made Raihan feel warm and fuzzy. “That’s good to hear.”

“I’ve always liked that boy,” his mother said a moment later.

Raihan let out a dreamy sigh. “That makes two of us.”

His mother directed a small smile at him. Then she looked off into the distance again, over the fence and the woods and maybe even the horizon. After a long silence, she said, “He really loves you. I think he always has. Do you know that?”

“I know,” Raihan replied easily. It wasn’t something he had always known, but he was sure of it now.

It was curious how that single piece of knowledge was able to make his heart swell so.

“And he knows it’s mutual?” his mother continued.

“Yeah.” Raihan sighed deeply and added, “I’m just trying my best to be worthy of his love.”

His mother snapped her gaze back to him and waited for him to meet her eyes. “You already are worthy of it, and all the love in the world, just by being you,” she said emphatically.

Deep down, he knew that, too.

“I love you, mama,” Raihan whispered. It felt like the right thing to say.

Smiling fondly, she bent over to kiss his forehead. “I know, dear,” she said before heading back inside.

After slowly finishing his meal, Raihan hugged his legs to his chest, wrapped the blanket around himself and listened to the world.

Maybe knowing some things – realizing them, embracing them, showing them to the whole world – was also a distinct part of being human.

He smiled to himself even though it made his cheeks twitch. Now that he had his heart back, he would wear it proudly on his sleeve.

And he waited for his Leon.

* * *

The sky was slowly taking a deep-blue hue as day was turning to night.

Leon had gotten back just in time for supper and done most of the talking that evening – he had been sharing news from his family, telling Raihan about his travels, reminiscing about the past. Simple, every-day topics. Safe subjects.

Now, a pleasant silence had fallen over the two as they sat on the front steps of Raihan’s house. Leon was resting his head on Raihan’s shoulder; his lovely hair was still slightly damp from the earlier bath, but Raihan didn’t mind. Leon was warm against his side, and so were the mug of tea in his hands and the unused pair of thick knitted socks his mother had found for him.

Warmth came in many forms.

Raihan pressed a cautious kiss in Leon’s hair, eliciting a tiny, satisfied sound from him. Overwhelmed, Raihan gave a silent, heartfelt thanks to Fate and all her siblings or whoever it was that had allowed his and Leon’s paths to cross and merge.

He was so glad that they had.

“I wish I could give you the world,” Raihan murmured without thinking. “You deserve it.”

Leon’s smile was audible in his voice. “It’s not yours to give away,” he joked, deciding to take Raihan’s words literally. “It belongs to no one and everyone.”

It was such a Leon thing to say.

“Yeah,” Raihan agreed. In the ensuing silence, his gaze was drawn upward, to the mountaintop. He swallowed hard. “But… I think it could have been mine, all mine, if… If I had…”

His voice wilted away as a chill slowly crawled up his spine. He tried to take a sip of his tea to calm his nerves, but it proved impossible as the mug was violently clattering against his teeth.

What if he had given in to the temptation, submitted to the abyss? Would there even have been a “him” then, in any sense of the word, to rule alongside Eternatus? Or would he have been completely consumed by the dragon, ceased to exist with the rest of humankind? What if - -

He felt Leon shift his weight off his shoulder and heard him whisper his name into the silence. “Rairai.”

Raihan turned to face Leon. “Y-yeah?”

Leon took the mug away from him and placed it on the steps to his right, next to his own mug. “I’m glad it isn’t,” he said and carefully took Raihan’s shivering hand. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

Tightly clasping Leon’s hand, Raihan focused on his breathing, inhaling and exhaling in a steady rhythm, and waited for the full-body trembling to subside. “Me, too,” he eventually whispered.

Leon offered him a warm smile.

Raihan closed his eyes and leaned on Leon’s shoulder. He was glad that he had remembered everything. He was glad that he had been able to keep a piece of his heart to himself. He was glad that Leon had been there to remind him of the tiny flicker of love for the world he had refused to let go of, given him the final pull back toward humanity. So many of his loves had been tied to Leon and what they had experienced together, after all.

And maybe Leon was, Raihan mused, a world – or _the_ world – in a smaller scale. Maybe every person was. It was a pretty silly thought, but it made sense to him. He didn’t say it out loud even though he knew that Leon would have understood him perfectly.

There were so many things he wanted to say.

“Thank you,” was all he managed to put into words.

Maybe it was enough for now.

Smiling, Leon leaned closer to Raihan and transferred their intertwined hands onto his lap. After a time, he asked, “Would you still like to go see it with me? The world, I mean.” He began tracing soothing circles on Raihan’s wrist with the thumb of his free hand. “I think it would be good for you. And we can always come back later. What do you say?”

Raihan nodded. Even though the thought of leaving so soon made his heart ache, he knew it was for the best. “Definitely.”


	3. no wrong moves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Don’t… do that,” Leon gasped into the silence._
> 
> * * *
> 
> aka leon didn’t make it through unscathed, either.
> 
> aka dancing and crying are of utmost importance in the healing process
> 
> [takes place a month or two after _between the lines_ but before the present-day scenes of the epilogue]
> 
> (chapter-specific tags: Dande | Leon, Kibana | Raihan *** Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan *** Established Relationship, Fluff, Angst, Trauma, Panic Attacks, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, this fic is a fluff and angst sandwich)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _“But there were no wrong moves. With every gaze, every smile, every tear, every touch and every apology, they built bridges over the crevasse, worked on closing the gap as they comforted and supported one another, relearnt the shapes of each other’s hearts. Little by little, the cracks would heal, become whole again.”_
> 
> who wanted more sad? no one? well tough luck
> 
> i got this idea way back when i first outlined chapter 15 of the main fic and it’s been ricocheting in my near-empty brain like an old-school windows screensaver ever since and i just. had to finally force it out of my system

Leon lit one more candle on the bedside table and set his lute bag down next to his and Raihan’s travel packs in the corner. His instrument was soon in need of its regular maintenance, but as always, it had served him well tonight. The inn patrons had been as welcoming and pleasant as ever – some regulars had even recognized him – and listened to his set with unwavering attention. Leon was glad that he had managed to locate the establishment again to share it with Raihan. With its cozy and lively atmosphere, it was his favorite place to stop by and perform whenever he was around this part of the region.

Well, Raihan had been there to read the map for him this time around, so that had obviously helped.

After Leon had collected his earnings, accepted the well-wishes from the most eager audience members and rejoined Raihan at their table, the second act of the night had taken the stage – an ensemble consisting of a piper, a lutenist, a fiddler and two singers. For the first three or four songs, Leon had been perfectly content just sitting there and watching Raihan. It was comforting, almost nostalgic, to see him like this, barely containing his enthusiasm and raptly listening to the minstrels with stars in his eyes, looking almost as enthralled as he had when he had watched Leon play. Getting the chance to see and hear multiple musicians with different instruments playing together like this wasn’t something that really had happened in their tiny hometown, now was it?

Although lovingly gazing upon his dearest was, in Leon’s opinion, a great way to spend the night, he had eventually grown a bit restless. Impatient, even. And so, on a whim, he had all but dragged Raihan to the dancefloor. Raihan had weakly protested at first, saying that he would only embarrass himself and Leon both, but Leon had been determined to have his way. To his mind, his stubbornness had been completely warranted. As Leon had usually been the one who provided the music and Raihan had never seemed particularly interested in dancing, there hadn’t been many opportunities for the two of them to dance together to begin with. So, they never had. But it didn’t mean that it wasn’t something Leon had always wanted. On the rare occasions when he had had to witness Raihan on the floor with someone else on Midwinter Nights when they had been youngsters, Leon had felt a peculiar sting of jealousy – although he hadn’t recognized the feeling for what it was back then.

So, to no one’s surprise, Leon had soon come to the conclusion that he and Raihan were both, objectively speaking, _awful_ dancers. Their inexperience must have been obvious to each fellow couple on the floor and to every casual onlooker seated around the tables. Nevertheless, Leon had found that he didn’t care one bit. With all the hearty laughter, lingering touches and private smiles, those numerous dances they shared as the night stretched on had been as close to perfection as Leon could imagine.

They hadn’t had the energy to dance the entire night away, though, as their day’s journey had been longer and more taxing than usual. Feeling giddy and pleasantly worn out, they had left a generous pile of coins for the minstrels before heading upstairs.

Now, the music reached their small rented room in a low hum drifting through the floorboards. Leon listened closely as they got ready for bed and soon recognized the ballad that was being played. It was a good choice for a closing number; a well-known, lengthy piece, its slow pace and simple melody perfect for winding down. Leon nodded to himself. His colleagues downstairs knew what they were doing.

He didn’t even realize that he had begun to sing along to the familiar tune under his breath until Raihan came to him, took his hand and led him to one last dance. Or perhaps it was more like a gently swaying embrace than a proper dance as there were no intricate steps, no discernable rhythm – nothing but simply and slowly twirling around whilst pressed close together. With his heart aflutter, Leon closed his eyes, leaned closer to Raihan, and let his beloved and the faint whisper of music lead him.

As the sound of instruments finally faded to give way to muffled applause, their so-called dance came to a stop as well. However, neither moved away from the circle of the other’s arms. After a moment of stillness, Leon peered up through his eyelashes and found Raihan tenderly smiling down at him, bright teal eyes half-lidded and the scaling on his cheeks flushed a brilliant red. Leon quickly lowered his eyes to the floor and felt a blush creeping up his neck. All of this was still so new. They had been taking things slow by mutual agreement, and that’s exactly how Leon wanted it to go – get used to each other’s company again after years spent apart, test the waters, see what they were and would be comfortable with. He was patient, with both himself and Raihan; they both were.

But… Sometimes Leon wished that he didn’t get so shy in situations like this, that he had the boldness to initiate even the simplest acts of intimacy whenever he pleased, that he wasn’t so paralyzed by the irrational fear of hurting Raihan again.

Hurting him like he had back then, which had then prompted - -

Leon bit the inside of his mouth and willed his mind to stop spiraling down that hole. What had happened afterward hadn’t been his fault, not really. He knew. He had tried to let go of his guilt, but it still clung to him like a leech.

His breath suddenly caught in his throat, for Raihan had carefully put one finger under his chin and was using it to tilt his head up. A shiver shot right through Leon. Raihan’s touch was soft and gentle and warm and he didn’t have claws anymore – he kept his nails trimmed short and round-tipped again – but still…

Still…

A sudden memory surfaced. Strange, glowing white eyes staring blankly at him, an unfamiliar, mocking voice rumbling in his ears, poison sweetly seeping into his veins - -

“Don’t… do that,” Leon gasped into the silence.

Raihan had been leaning down to kiss him but stopped right in his tracks at the words, eyes wide with surprise and alarm. “Lee?”

“Don’t do that. Please. Don’t - -”

And as if the dragon’s spell had been renewed, Leon couldn’t speak anymore. His entire body trembled, his heart shook in his chest, his breathing grew labored, and all he could think about was the sharp tip of a claw firmly set beneath his chin, lifting it up and forcing him to crane his neck; then, the pinprick of cold pressing down on his throat and trailing down the length his arm, the unbearable chill coursing through his body and prickling like shards of ice in his veins, the numbing worry and fear for Raihan that had filled his heart, the suffocating pressure in his lungs caused by his weakness and uselessness and idiocy and guilt and inability to do _anything_ \- -

The moment Leon felt a flood of hot tears spilling down his cheeks, he saw Raihan go absolutely still. Almost instantly, Raihan released his hold of him, staggered two steps back and turned his gaze away, abashed.

A pitiful, distressed whimper escaped Leon’s lips. He surged forward in blind panic, his fear overridden by another one, and desperately wrapped his arms around Raihan. As he pressed his cheek to Raihan’s chest, he felt the familiar warmth of his lean body and the steady beating of his heart, just like he was supposed to. An overwhelming wave of relief washed over him. The dragon was still gone, it hadn’t come back, and it never would, Raihan had been certain of it. It was gone. But his tears didn’t cease; they began to flow ever harder and left him struggling for breath.

Raihan gingerly put his arms around Leon again. “I’m sorry, darling. I’m so sorry. Please tell me what I did wrong and I will never do it again.”

Leon was unable to reply. His fingers convulsively curled into the back of Raihan’s shirt as he clung to him tighter. 

“Come. Let’s sit down, okay?”

Raihan guided them to the bed, rather awkwardly as Leon was still clinging to him. Somehow, he managed to settle himself so that he was sitting with his back to the headboard. Leon scrambled onto his lap and slumped against him. So warm… Still trembling all over, he nuzzled his face into the crook of Raihan’s neck and wept.

“Let it out. Let it all out. I’m right here,” Raihan murmured calmly, his voice almost drowned out by Leon’s shaky sobs, and gathered Leon in his arms once more. “You don’t have to tell me right now, or even tonight. Just… Whenever you’re ready.”

It took Leon a long time to calm down enough to speak, and when he did, his brief explanation came haltingly and laced with tears. Thinking about the incident still made him shiver, but he never would have guessed that such a simple gesture could send him right back… It wasn’t a pleasant memory, far from it, and he’d rather forget it had ever happened. Of course, he had gone over his conversation with the dragon almost word-for-word when they had been visiting Sonia and Nessa – he knew it was important, so withholding that information would have served no purpose – but he hadn’t mentioned that particular detail. It hadn’t even occurred to him that it was an important aspect until just now; back then, he had focused on recounting the discussion itself and its aftermath, assuming that those were the most crucial parts.

Raihan listened to him patiently, all the while soothingly carding his fingers though his hair. “It’s over. It can’t hurt you anymore,” he said softly once Leon had finished. “You’re safe now.”

“I know,” Leon sniffled. The dragon was gone and he was safe, but… Would anything ever be truly over as long as the memories of it still lingered and had his heart in a subtle chokehold?

He could only hope that it would get easier over time.

Leon squeezed his eyes shut, but it didn’t keep fresh tears from rolling down his cheeks and onto Raihan’s shirtfront. “I’m sorry.” For ruining their beautiful moment. “I’m sorry.” For letting the dragon do that to him. “I’m sorry.” For not realizing how big an impact it had had on him. “I’m sorry.” For letting the dragon take over Raihan. “I’m sorry.” For always being so weak and stupid and - -

“You don’t have to apologize,” Raihan said resolutely and hugged him tighter. “It’s not your fault. None of it was.”

It wasn’t the first time Leon had heard those words over the past weeks, not only from Raihan’s mouth but also from his own. He knew they were true and wanted to believe in them, he really did, but sometimes it was so very difficult.

He must have said it out loud without realizing it, because Raihan let out a shuddering breath and whispered, “I wish you didn’t feel like that.”

“Me, too,” Leon replied weakly.

For a long while, all they did was lay there, holding each other. Gradually, Leon’s tears subsided and his breathing matched with the regular rhythm of Raihan’s inhales and exhales. Feeling disoriented and sore, he opened his eyes slightly and shifted into a more comfortable position. Was that the gray light of early dawn creeping in through the window shutters? He had completely lost track of time.

He felt Raihan press a kiss on the crown of his head. “I’m sorry, Lee,” he whispered. “I won’t do it again. I promise.”

Leon nodded and slowly pulled away from the embrace. He was going to apologize again and offer to fetch Raihan a dry shirt to sleep in – they still had a few precious hours left to rest before proper daybreak. But something in the way Raihan looked at him, eyes brimming with so much worry and love, made him close his mouth and stay put.

Smiling softly, Raihan wiped the remaining of Leon’s tears away with the edge of the blanket and brushed a few wet strands of hair behind his ears. The tenderness of the actions sent Leon’s heart pleasantly thundering in his chest.

He was too shy to say it, but… Despite everything – or maybe _because of_ everything – he really wanted Raihan to lean in again and finish what he had started.

Perhaps his simple desire was written all over his face, for a blush rose on Raihan’s cheeks again. “If I ever want to tilt your head up to kiss you…” he began and briefly paused to worry his lower lip. Tentatively, he put his hands on either side of Leon’s face, the tips of his fingers burrowing in his hair, thumbs caressing his flushed cheeks, and gently coaxed Leon to angle his face ever so slightly upward. “Is this okay?”

Leon closed his eyes and let out a satisfied sigh. “Yes,” he smiled. “It’s perfect.”

And as Raihan leaned in to kiss him, slow and gentle and careful, Leon knew that even though they would continue to fumble and fall, they would keep picking each other back up again. And as he draped his arms around Raihan’s shoulders and kissed him back, Leon knew that they were one step closer to finding the right melody to dance to.


	4. it’s a small world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Wait a second. You two_ know _each other?”_
> 
> * * *
> 
> aka piers sees some familiar faces.
> 
> aka three men walk into a tavern…
> 
> [takes place a few days before the present-day scenes of the epilogue]
> 
> (chapter-specific tags: Nezu | Piers, Dande | Leon, Kibana | Raihan *** Nezu | Piers & Dande | Leon, Nezu | Piers & Kibana | Raihan, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan *** there is pretty much no plot here, i just. wanted to write more piers, also tiny bits of additional worldbuilding i guess, plus raihan and leon being grossly in love while i’m at it.......)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic started with the vague premise of “hey wouldn’t it be funny if piers met raihan and leon again but not separately this time and he was all confused” and a single line of dialogue and before i knew it i had written a rough draft with 1k words. what.
> 
> …and then i just didn’t touch it for months. this was the second side story i outlined, right after the first draft of interlude or maybe during it, so it has been sitting in my drafts for a really long time........
> 
> also! long ago someone asked in the comments of dragon song whether dragons can sense each other when their hosts meet, and i was like oh, that’s an interesting question i have put absolutely no thought into even tho i probably should have, i have to think about it. and so i did and threw that in here as well, along with some other crumbs of worldbuilding

The waitress gave him a polite nod after she had finished clearing his table. Eating food prepared by someone else sure was nice every once in a while.

His minstrel business had also been going nicely lately. Even if he chose not to play tonight, he had earned enough during the past couple of days that he could still comfortably afford a room here at the inn for at least a full week. And he would stay. He liked it here. The city was lively but the people weren’t too nosy, the weather wasn’t swelteringly hot even though it was high summer, and there were plenty of sights to see. Tomorrow he would look around some more, find a place that sold replacement strings and see if he could find something nice to buy for his sister. His choice in career made it so that he was away from home more than he wanted to, so he made sure to bring her lots of souvenirs whenever he visited her. And perhaps a new song or two, too. Or five.

All in all, life was pretty good for Piers right now.

It was late evening, but he had some time to kill. Leaning back in his chair, he considered his options. Maybe he should go claim his room right away instead of waiting till the night’s performance was done. Or he could stay here, get a better feel for the venue and his future audience, and adjust his song selection accordingly.

Before he had the chance to reach any conclusion regarding his plans, a familiar voice rose above the general hubbub of conversation around him. “It _is_ Piers! Hello!”

Piers lifted his eyes and soon located the source of the greeting. “Oh, Leon,” he muttered to himself and gave a little wave.

Leon’s sunny smile widened in response. He promptly began threading through the crowd toward the corner table Piers was occupying.

“Good t’see you again,” Piers greeted once Leon had gotten close enough for them to converse without raising their voices. They had met only once before a few months back, but Piers had taken a liking to the fellow minstrel. It was hard to not like a person like him.

And the tall person Leon had dragged by the hand to Piers’ table was…

…Huh?

Piers stared at him and blinked in surprise.

Raihan did the same right back at him.

After a few baffled moments of silence, the two turned to Leon and asked in unison, “Wait a second. You two _know_ each other?”

Leon’s gaze darted between Raihan and Piers and his expression gradually changed from bewildered to that of realization. Turning toward Raihan, he began, “Ah, that’s - -”

However, Piers missed the rest of Leon’s sentence for Deino suddenly touched his mind. _Same person. No dragon_ , the dragon remarked. _Weird._

 _What do you mean?_ Piers shifted his gaze to Raihan who was intently listening to Leon’s explanation about the evening of their joint performance. He still had all the draconic features he had had ten years ago, and it looked like his scaling was even more prominent than it had been back then.

_Use my eyes._

Piers frowned but did as the dragon had asked him to. Much to his surprise, he couldn’t sense any sort of draconic presence in Raihan through Deino. _You’re right_ , he noted, astounded. Still no awakening? No, that didn’t add up. At their initial meeting, he had been able to sense at least _something_. That’s why he had assumed that Raihan had Ascended. When the dragon hadn’t reacted to Deino’s prodding and attempts at soul-contact in any way, he had simply thought that it was a taciturn individual and left it at that. After the truth had come out and Raihan had left, Piers had mulled everything over. Eventually he had come to the inevitable conclusion that the one residing in Raihan had to have been an exceptionally powerful dragon since its presence could be felt so strongly even while it slumbered.

So why couldn’t he sense anything now?

_I wonder what happened._

_Is no more. Gone_ , Deino elaborated, not that it helped much. _Weird._

 _Hmm._ So… It was possible for the host and the dragon to part ways? That _was_ weird. But how? And, more importantly, why? The bonds between dragon and host were almost always mutually beneficial, after all. It was just like that red-haired scholar he had met a couple years ago had told him: malevolent dragons were few and far between. According to her, their stories had also been distorted and their influence exaggerated over the centuries. She had also told him about her theories as to why those dragons rarely showed up in the present day and age: about the power-obsessed hosts who hadn’t survived the dragon’s awakening without giving too much of themselves away in the process, about the immense mental fortitude needed to host a Legendary One for extended periods of time post-Ascension, about the ways in which humans had influenced and continued to influence dragons, and about the vague mentions in ancient scrolls of what she thought may be sealing rituals, like Giratina’s banishment during the Era itself.

 _No like_ , Deino hissed. _I go now._

And with that, the dragon pulled away from the forefront of Piers’ mind. As always, they had had their conversation at the speed of thought. The other two most likely hadn’t even noticed it.

Piers easily shifted his full attention back to the physical world right as had Leon finished jogging Raihan’s memory. “Oh, that’s right. I remember now,” Piers heard Raihan mutter to himself.

Next, Leon turned toward his colleague. “And, um, well, you see, Rairai - - I mean, Raihan and I… We’re…” His words dwindled away. Leon looked uncertain, almost troubled.

Piers was puzzled. The two seemed close, so why did Leon have trouble describing their relationship? In the brief silence that followed, Piers called to mind his initial meetings with them both, what they had told him and how they had acted, how oddly Leon had behaved when Raihan had showed up at the inn that evening - -

And suddenly, everything fell into place.

“I see,” he huffed and smiled at the pair. “The friend who wants to be a minstrel…” Piers nodded toward Leon and then, doing the same toward Raihan, he added, “And the muse, if I’m not mistaken.”

Raihan had nodded at Piers’ first observation. He then quirked an eyebrow at Leon who had flushed bright red for some reason. “‘Muse’?”

“I… I’ll tell you later,” Leon mumbled in reply and lowered his eyes to the floor, evading both Raihan’s questioning gaze and Piers’ eyes.

The other minstrel hadn’t objected, though, so Piers assumed that his deduction had been correct. He smiled to himself. It was rather heart-warming, he had to admit, to see such a long-lived friendship. And it seemed like they had left the troubles Leon had mentioned behind them, too.

Raihan shot a contemplative look at both minstrels in turn and shrugged. “How about I let you two colleagues catch up, then. Unless you’re in a hurry?” He directed his question at Piers.

Piers hesitated for a split second. This wasn’t what he had expected or even remotely prepared for, but it would be impolite to leave now, right? “Not at all.”

His reply was met with a smile. “Great! In that case…” Raihan let go of Leon’s hand to shrug his rucksack off his shoulders. After setting his bag down, he leaned down to peck the corner of Leon’s mouth, eliciting the other man to blush once more. “Drinks on me.”

Leon beamed up at him. “Thanks, darling.”

_Ah._

Piers quickly recovered his usual aplomb and watched as Raihan weaved his way to the bar counter. So, they were _that kind_ of close. Got it.

Leon followed Raihan with his eyes for a long time as well, longer than was perhaps necessary. After a time he jolted, cleared his throat and hastily took a seat across the table from Piers. “Are you playing here tonight?” he asked, glancing at the lute Piers had propped on the chair beside him.

“That’s the plan. Wanna join in?”

“Gladly,” Leon accepted and carefully set down his own bags.

“So,” Piers began once his colleague had settled comfortably, “How’s that song of yours comin’ along? Finished yet?”

“Almost. You see…” Leon glanced toward the bar counter and let his eyes linger, his gaze doubtless fixed on a certain man who was currently placing their order. Smiling, he rested his chin on his hand and let out a dreamy sigh. “Well. Let’s just say that I think I’m going to sing it very soon.” However, a hint of sadness creeped in his smile when he turned back towards Piers and continued, “Raihan and I, we got separated for… a while. That evening at the inn was the first time I had seen him for a long time.” Leon paused for a moment and began fiddling with the ribbon securing his, honestly speaking, poorly-made side braid. “He’s been through a lot these past… few years. He was dealing with some stuff even back when you two first met - -”

Piers cut Leon’s tale short with a cautioning gesture of his hand. “Yeah, I figured. You can save me the details. He can tell me himself if he wants to.”

“…Ah. Right.”

Piers bit back a sigh. He was curious, of course, especially after what Deino had pointed out, but whatever encumbered the fellow was none of his business. He recalled all too well how Raihan had acted the last time they had briefly seen each other. And if he still wanted nothing to do with Piers – which Piers would not hold against him – things would probably be rather awkward.

This time around, he’d be more careful, try his best to refrain from meddling in private affairs, and make every effort to remedy the bad first impression he had made.

Leon had fallen quiet as well, so before the silence between them stretched on too long, Piers carried on with the conversation. “But… He seems to be doin’ better now,” he noted, hazarding a glance toward the bar. “He looks… I dunno… _Healthier_ than he did a few months back.”

“He does,” Leon confirmed. “I believe that things are gradually turning out for the better again overall.”

“Good for you, and I mean both of you,” Piers said earnestly.

Leon gave a quick nod and a soft smile at that. He looked more lively, too, now that Piers thought about it. It was a strange thing to consider since there hadn’t seemed to be anything particularly wrong with him at their initial meeting. The difference was slight but noticeable.

“So, no new material on the stage tonight, I take it?” Piers asked, steering the conversation back to the original topic.

“I’m afraid not,” Leon replied. “And even if I had finished it, I made a promise that he’ll be the first one to hear it.” He glanced back at the bar counter with a stupid smile on his face and gave a little wave – Raihan had noticed his gaze and was directing a smug grin his way. When Leon turned back toward Piers, his eyes caught the lanternlight in such a way that they looked to be sparkling. “And… Perhaps he’ll be the only one who gets to hear it,” he shyly added.

Oh, these two are ridiculous. Piers rolled his eyes a bit and smirked. “Gotta start writin’ new songs you can sing to the public, then.”

Leon laughed. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem anymore, now that I’ve found my inspiration again.”

From there, the conversation moved to the intricacies of songwriting. Piers was telling Leon about the piece he was currently composing when Raihan returned carrying a tray with three mugs.

Piers squared his shoulders. He had no idea how to act, other than try to be polite and respectful. He accepted one of the mugs with a thanks and made a mental note to pay it back somehow whenever their paths crossed again.

After taking a sip of his drink, Leon picked up the conversation where they had left off and let it flow from one topic to the next. Raihan seemed to be perfectly content listening, only chiming in every now and then. Curious. He had been more talkative ten years ago… Nevertheless, he was an avid listener, nodding along or otherwise signaling that he was participating.

Little by little, Piers felt himself relax. He had detected no hostility or anything of the sort whatsoever from Raihan. Maybe his uneasiness had been unwarranted, after all.

“Honestly, Piers,” Raihan suddenly piped up, sheepish, “I was surprised you remembered me after all these years.”

Piers was slightly taken aback by the declaration. “Likewise,” he admitted. He hadn’t expected Raihan to remember him, either. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one with an exceptionally good memory. “No hard feelin’s, right?” he ventured.

Raihan blinked a few times before he found a reply. “There never were. I…” He trailed off and thrummed his fingers against the tabletop for a moment. “Last time, in spring, I didn’t… recognize you. Sorry about that.”

“’S fine,” Piers quickly replied. Truth be told, the explanation made little sense to him. Why return a greeting to someone you didn’t know? But if Raihan’s sudden tenseness and the consoling hand Leon had carefully set on his partner’s hand were anything to go by, they were approaching a topic Raihan wasn’t comfortable talking about. Better let it be and change the subject. “So, where’re you two headed?”

Obviously relieved by the diversion, Raihan responded with a simple, “Home.” He turned his palm up and slotted his fingers with Leon’s. After a brief pause, he began telling Piers about their travels during the summer. Piers knew most of the places they had visited, so he had plenty of anecdotes to share as well. Before long he noticed that Raihan was growing more and more enthusiastic the longer he talked. Piers recalled him being especially interested in whatever tidbits of his minstrel’s journey he had disclosed. No wonder he was so excited now that he had had the chance to see and experience so many new things for himself. Piers had been – and was – like that, too, albeit not as forthright about it. But the feelings of pure wonder and awe he and Raihan had were the same, and they never faded.

Leon had been following their conversation with an ever-widening smile on his face. “It’s always nice to see new friendships forming and old ones rekindling,” he noted.

Friends, eh? The word had a nice ring to it. “Sure is,” Piers agreed.

Raihan smiled as well and raised his mug. “Cheers, then! To familiar faces!”

“It’s a small world, all right,” Piers said and took a long sip of his own drink. He didn’t particularly like the saying. In reality, the world was incomprehensibly vast. And there was a song hidden in every starry night, every smile on his sister’s face, every lungful of crispy winter air, every wave crashing against the rocky seashore. They were there, in every last detail, just waiting to be found and composed and played and sung. Those kinds of observations, the feelings elicited by them, were the ones he tried to capture in his works. So many other minstrels wrote about romance and grand gestures of undying love, but he had never been able to relate to those things. Maybe that’s why he had made so many original songs – reciting other people’s love stories just didn’t feel right to him. It never had. When it came to those songs, he didn’t feel in tune with them in the slightest. He firmly believed that it was much easier to perform well when you could relate to the story the song was telling and understood its every nuance.

“That saying is a bit silly, isn’t it?” Raihan pointed out after a moment of silence. “The world isn’t small. It’s big, so big in fact that a single person could never experience everything it has to offer. And that’s what makes it so beautiful.”

Piers glanced at him in surprise. Soon a smile broke out on his face.

_This guy gets it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~yes piers is aroace and no you can’t change my mind. i’m allowed to project on _all_ the characters in my own verse in one way or another and no one can stop me~~
> 
> anyway. i think that’s it for _dragon song_. i had some more ideas (including proper post-epilogue stuff) written down, but… eh. i covered most of the things i wanted to cover. this is enough. y’all can use your own imagination for everything else if you’re so inclined – that’s what the last lines of the epilogue were all about, after all.
> 
> this verse is incredibly important to me, so i’m super happy that others liked it too. so if there are people still reading this: thank you! you’re the bestest.
> 
> peace out!


End file.
